‘SIGNS OF DEGENERATION'

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18761, 18 July 1935, Page 15

‘SIGNS OF DEGENERATION'

HEALTH IN DOMINION CHILD MALNUTRITION CITY DOCTOR’S VIEW (Por Press Association.) AUCKLAND, ihis day. “Already we nr® a B grade people physically with all the signs of increasing degeneration,” declared Dr. E. B. Gunson ; at a meeting called last , night for the purpose of forming an Auckland branch of the League of Health of New Zealand Youth. ' The Minister of Health. Sir Alexander Young, had recently been reported as having combated the ’suggestion that malnutrition was prevalent among children. The figures quoted by tin* Minister covered only a -aimll group of the cases considered to day by nil medical authorities to belong to the group of nutritional, diseases. Dr. Gunson called attention to the arrival of the report of the DirectorGeneral of Health f.or 1934, containing a summary'of 5.1,000 completed ex animations of school children. Of these, 70 per cent were stated to have, physical defects. In spite of the department’s advocacy for many years of increased milk consumption these figures revealed, not only a sorry state of nutrition among children, but indicated an almost complete failure of the department to achieve its objective in respect to an adequate supply of milk for these e.hildro'n., .He emphasised that the elimination p£. a high proportion of the community’s ill-health and disease >vas purely a,'problem of-social and economic orPreventive steps must with the children and thp basis ffihould bo nutrition. Milk was the \ child’s natural food.

MILK FOR CHILDREN LEAGUE PLANS CAMPAIGN , (Per Press Association.) AUCKLAND,' this day. The League of Health of New Zealand Youth, a recently formed organisation, has decided to inaugurate immediately a national campaign urging the Government to provide from half to one pint of fresh milk every day to all school children, the cost to he borne by the State. : The league seeks a. membership o! 100,000 and lias been given £SOO by the Mirror Publishing Company to cover organisation expenses. The patron is, the Mayor, Mr. Ernest Davis, the president Dr. E. B. Turson, and the Mayors of the four main centres arc vice-presidents. The council consists ot Messrs. W. Goodfellow, T. Watson Arthur, F. W. Doidge and H. J. Kelliher.